EPL referee, Mike Dean has come out to say that he was in awe of some players during his early years in football. He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and fans have been reacting.
According to him, big-personality players like Roy Keane, Patrick Vieira actually made him a little bit scared when it came to making decisions on the pitch because they were quite intimidating.
Dean added that SAF used to knock on the doors of referees to express his views if something had gone really badly, but he wasn’t as bad as people made him out to be.
His words, “You had massive, big-personality players, the [Roy] Keanes, people like that, [Patrick] Vieira – they were all around then,”
“For me to come from the Football League to the Premier League and referee those players… it was just a massive step.”
“I was a bit nervous and a bit scared of making a decision.”
On SAF, “He used to get a lot of stick saying he’d come in and bang the door down,”
“He would come in now and then to express his views if something had gone really badly, but he wasn’t as bad as people made him out to be.”
On the most intimidating coach he ever faced, “It has to be Arsene [Wenger] when he was at Arsenal,”
“I always found it tough, not refereeing Arsenal in general but refereeing Arsenal when he was the manager. It was just his presence – he wanted the best for Arsenal all the time and if he could get any way of getting one over you he would do.”
“Since he has finished football I have seen him and he has been great. Cross the white line and everyone is different, like referees. We are normal people.”
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